A Ferrari that needs to change, and a lot
Ferrari concluded the 2023 season in third place in the Constructors’ Championship, just behind Mercedes, worsening its position compared to 2022 when the Maranello-based team finished in second place behind the dominant Red Bull. The number of race victories also dropped dramatically, going from four wins to just one. However, the consolation is being the only team to dethrone Red Bull from the top step of the podium in a Sunday Grand Prix (Oscar Piastri with McLaren achieved it in Qatar, but in the Saturday Sprint).
The SF-23 aimed to address the weaknesses of the F1-75, but the performance gain was insufficient compared to what Red Bull achieved. By shedding some weight from the RB18, Red Bull had a significantly superior car in the RB19. Ferrari’s attempt to improve the 2022 car’s performance in slow corners succeeded, but the price paid was a loss of aerodynamic load in medium-fast corners. The result was also a more understeering car compared to the F1-75, a characteristic labeled as a step in the direction of Carlos Sainz compared to Charles Leclerc, who prefers oversteering cars.
In an interview with the Spanish outlet AS, Carlos Sainz stated that he disagreed with those who claimed the SF-23 suited him: “It was said that it’s a car that suits me, that I like – Carlos Sainz’s words – honestly, it gave me headaches, not only to me. It was a difficult car to interpret even for my teammate. I didn’t enjoy driving it; I had to adapt from various perspectives. We understood right after the first three laps in testing in Bahrain that the SF-23 was a complicated car. For this reason, I hope that the Ferrari 2024 changes a lot. I hope it’s a more versatile car, easy to drive, and set up.” – the Ferrari man concluded.
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